Come Together
by GiraffeGirl
Summary: The Doctor tries to make Rose happy... but all she really wants is to go back to the start. And most of all, she wants these dreams to stop. 10th Doctor. Definite DrRose but not a happy ending I'm afraid... at least not this time!
1. The Doctor: A lonely angel

**A/N: This started off as just a short story, but then it developed a bit and it has a little bit of a bearing on another story I'm just writing. So I thought I'd put this up first.The style it's written in (i.e. from two perspectives) and the title (though that was accidental!) are both inspired by _Come Together_ by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees. And apologies for the shortness of the chapters!

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The TARDIS hummed happily to herself, as I put the casing back together.

"There you go, old girl, all fixed up." I patted her. Luckily Rose had already gone to bed or she'd no doubt be teasing me about talking to an inanimate object. I doubted she'd ever accept that the TARDIS was a living breathing thing just like her. Mind you, I was expecting a lot of her; she'd accepted that we could travel in time. She'd accepted slaveens, darleks and werewolves. She'd even accepted a new me. Shouldn't push her too far.

I stretched. It was hard work, fixing the TARDIS. And the poor old girl was getting increasingly more battered all the time. That's what came of travelling billions of years forwards and backwards I guess. I could at least regenerate and Rose… well, Rose had enough lotions and moisturisers and concealers and creams to sink a battleship. The TARDIS only had me.

As I walked down the corridor, the lights flickered on in front of me and off behind me. Energy saving. We'd obviously been pushing it a bit too much lately. Rose certainly thought so, as she'd gone to bed early and left me to tinker around by myself. It wasn't that I minded being alone; I had the TARDIS for company. But somehow talking to a mute being wasn't quite the same.

I'd got used to being lonely before I'd met her anyway. You do when you have no other choice. Wandering around, hoping, just hoping, that just one other person might have survived, might just be waiting for you to find them. Yet knowing that no matter how hard you hope, the truth is the truth. You are the last one.

I stopped in on Rose before I went to bed. She was such an inelegant sleeper. Call me old-fashioned, but I always had visions of girls sleeping in cream sheets with their hair neatly fanned out across the pillow and their mouths crinkled into a small smile. Rose had pretty much shattered that illusion before it had begun. She had one foot hanging out of bed all together, the covers knotted up in a ball. Her hair was tied back scruffily and she hadn't even bothered to take her make-up off. She was still holding a book in her right hand; a rather battered copy of _The Da Vinci Code_ that she'd started months ago. And, yes she was still only a third of the way through. She refused to even let me hold it.

"I don't want to know!" she'd exclaimed when she'd brought it on board. "Don't even think about telling me the ending!"

"As if I would!" I held my hands up in mock surrender. "When have I ever done that?"

"When I was reading that book about the dog at night."

"Well, yes, but…"

"And when I was trying to read The Lord of the Rings."

"Yes, but that was stupid! As if anything like that would ever happen."

Rose had given me a withering look before heading off to her room. That was when she was still getting used to the new me. She was struggling back then, I know. Probably kept expecting to see my huge ears and hear my accent. A number of times I'd seen her about to say something and then do a double-check, before closing her mouth again. Like she couldn't trust me anymore. When we'd gone out, she'd walked straight past me in a crowd before remembering. I hated doing that to her. It was almost as bad as being back at square one again, with us each getting to know each other. Except I already knew her inside out and back to front.


	2. Rose: The Doctor is worth the monsters

I woke up with a start as I dropped the book onto the floor. I'd always wanted wooden floors in my room, it looked so swish in magazines. In reality, the splinters were a nightmare, especially seeing as the Doctor, in either incarnation, was hardly handy with a sheet of sandpaper. And then there was the noise element; anything that moved on it sounded like a herd of elephants. Especially me in my newest pair of shoes. He, of course, couldn't resist joking about them.

"You sound like you're taking up tap dancing!" he'd exclaimed when he could finally catch his breath from laughing.

"They're cute!" They were as well. They'd cost a packet, all of the cash Mum had given me for my birthday.

"You can barely walk in them! How are you going to run from anything in them?"

I'd nearly lost my temper then. "Life isn't always about running from things you know!" I'd retorted and stumbled away to admire my shoes in private.

That was the problem though. Life with the Doctor _was_ always running from something or someone or somewhere. Even in my dreams, I had been running, only I was wearing those stupid shoes that had given me the biggest blisters and were now mocking me from their box on the floor, and the monster had caught up with me. _The Doctor is worth the monsters_. Yeah, but nothing's worth getting eaten by one of them.

This had been happening more and more recently. After the dreams about the old Doctor (_my Doctor_, I still thought privately) had come these. Dreams where something was chasing me through the darkness and I was running blindly into the light. I couldn't see where I was going and I couldn't see what was chasing me. This wasn't the first time I'd been too slow; luckily I always woke up before the conclusion of the dream.

I grimaced at the book on the floor. _All your fault_, I thought crossly. That book was full of murder and intrigue and running. No wonder I was having nightmares. _Yes, because you couldn't possibly be having nightmares about your life, could you?_

The TARDIS was humming at her usual level. It was reassuring, but I wanted more than that tonight. I remembered when I was a kid and I had nightmares that my mum had always come in and sat with me until I fell asleep. I wanted her tonight, stroking my hair, telling me comforting stories. My absolute favourite one was about how her and dad had met. I could never get enough of that one and she'd grown tired of telling it. _Or maybe it hurt too much…_

I slipped out of bed carefully, and stepped across the debris on my bedroom floor. It was well overdue for a tidying. I just hadn't had time lately. I winced as I trod on something… the ring pull off a Diet Coke can… yes, definitely time for a clear out. But not at this time of night.

The control room was empty. Obviously he must have finished repairing the TARDIS; that was why she was humming so contentedly. Even now the room astounded me. It was stunning with all the levers and buttons that I didn't understand and probably never would. The vortex was as beautiful as ever. But it was lonely in that room. I'd hoped to find him there, pottering around in his long coat and trainers, glasses on top of his head likely as not. We could have sat up and talked about things for a bit; he'd have even wilder stories than my mum could ever have told me. Not necessarily more comforting stories, but certainly more fantastical. But he wasn't here.

I considered turning back to my room and trying to go back to sleep. But suddenly my room, my cosy room on board the TARDIS, that I'd spent so long decorating and rearranging… it seemed like a prison, like something trying to trap me. I couldn't explain those feelings; I just knew deep down that going back into that room tonight would send me back into exactly the same nightmare. Possibly something even worse.

I hesitated in the control room, my hand resting on the side. There were a million things I could do on board the TARDIS, all without waking him up. There was the games room at one end, and the TV room up another… I could watch _The Breakfast Club_ for the hundredth time, all without him even knowing. But that same feeling was telling me that the only place I'd find any rest tonight was if I walked down the left hand corridor and went into the third door on the left…


	3. The Doctor: Everyone has nightmares

The door to my room opened and light shone in, hitting me right between the eyes. I was a light sleeper anyway, and could only sleep with all the lights off. This was just wrecking my beauty sleep. Even with the eye mask that I had "borrowed" off Rose, the light was painful.

I pulled the mask up and there she was, standing in the doorway, surrounded by light. She was biting her lip anxiously and hanging back.

"Rose?" I said blearily.

She shifted her weight awkwardly. "I… I couldn't sleep. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." The door started to close. _Thank God, darkness!_ Then my conscience kicked in. Sometimes I hated my conscience.

"Rose, wait!" She paused in the doorway. I sighed inwardly. "Come in, what's wrong?"

She let the door wing shut behind her and the TARDIS _so kindly_ brought the lights in my room up a little so she could pick her way across the floor. She sat down on my bed gingerly and shrugged.

"I don't know, I… I keep having these nightmares and stuff…"

Nightmares. _Everyone has nightmares_. Even I did from time to time. But that wasn't the issue. "What sort of nightmares?"

"Just sort of… scary ones."

I had to smile at that. Rose at her very articulate best. "But about what? What's happening in them?"

"I'm just sort of… running." Rose shrugged. "And something's chasing me. Only I don't know what. And sometimes it catches up with me…" She hesitated. "Then I wake up."

"Hope you're not wearing your new shoes when you try and run!" I tried to joke, but even in the half light I could see the look on her face. Clearly she was. And she wouldn't find that funny anyway… she loved those ridiculous shoes.

"It doesn't matter," she said now, standing up.

"Oh, no, Rose, don't go." This had obviously worried her. Time to be the Serious Doctor she remembered from before. How I hated that version of me. He was so… so… _morbid_ and intense. Dwelt on the past too much. But it was what Rose needed tonight.

"What is it that you're running from?" I asked now, deciding that maybe the Freudian approach would be the best. Maybe I should even take her to see the man himself… though that was perhaps a bit _too_ serious and drastic for a random nightmare.

She shrugged. "Just something. I don't ever get to see it."

"A dangerous something?"

She gave me a withering look. "Well, I expect so. Why else would I be running from it?"

She had a point; next time I was in early twentieth century Austria I'd drop in on Sigmund and get some tips off him… he was far better at this than I was.

"Right. Okay. So if you're not sure what you're running from… what are you running to?"

She shrugged again. "I don't know that either. I just… it's frightening."

"Rose, it's only a dream," I reminded her. "Nothing can hurt you, it's not real."

"I know." She seemed to be accepting what I was telling her. But she was still sitting on the end of my bed at some ungodly hour in the morning. I waited a long time to see if she was going to say anything else. Something like "Okay, thanks Doctor, I'll be going back to bed now." But no…

"Do you want to sleep in here tonight?"

She nodded and looked so young that I hadn't the heart to hold it against her anymore. She slid in under the duvet.

"What would my mother say?" she said laughing slightly. "Getting into bed with strange men."

"I'm not a strange man."

Her face fell a little. "No," she agreed half heartedly. "Well, good night Doctor." She turned over and fell silent.

Poor Rose. Clearly it was going to take her a lot longer than I'd ever imagined to get used to this new me.


	4. Rose: Are we in Scotland?

"_Wake up it's a beautiful morning! Feel the sun shining for your eyes!"_

The bass on the music was so loud it physically hurt as I was dragged out of the depths of a dreamless sleep. I sat up in bed slowly to see…

"Doctor, what are you_ doing_?" I demanded. He was already fully dressed in that eccentric outfit he liked to wear. His hair was, as usual, a dishevelled mess. And he was _jogging on the spot_. As I sat up, he moved into doing star jumps.

"Rose! Morning!" He gave that toothy grin as he saw me, but didn't stop jumping. "I'm doing my exercises!"

"Do you do this every morning?" I asked incredulously. The music was still blaring in the background.

"You should join in!" he said enthusiastically. "Nothing like a morning's hard exercises to get the hearts pumping!"

"I'm fine from here thanks." I shuddered. "I don't suppose you could turn the music down, could you?"

"Oh sorry." He clicked his fingers and the music cut out. "I didn't really notice how loud it was. How did you sleep?"

"Really well." I nodded. "Thank you. I… I'm sorry about last night, I just…"

"It's fine." He shook his head. "Right! Now you're awake… come on!" He grabbed my hand and dragged me out of bed.

"Where are we going?" I asked. "Doctor! I'm not even dressed!"

He hesitated for a second and looked at me. Then he shrugged. "You'll do!" And he continued pulling me down the TARDIS corridors and out the door onto...

"Where are we?" I shivered as a gust of wind blew up the mountainside.

"Scotland!" he said, grinning from ear to ear. The faint trace of Scottishness that he'd affected when we met Queen Victoria, came back into his voice. He breathed in deeply. "Just get a lungful of that air!"

I looked at him. "What?"

He looked across at me. "Well? Look at the view, isn't the view fantastic?"

I looked. It was. "Yeah, it's lovely but… why are we here?"

"You're always saying you'd like a holiday. So here we are."

"Scotland?" I almost choked. "You've brought me to _Scotland_ on holiday?"

"What's wrong with Scotland?" He looked aggrieved, like I'd insulted his homeland or something.

"Nothing!" I shook my head hurriedly. "Nothing, it's lovely. I just…_Scotland?_ We could have gone anywhere in the universe and we've come to Scotland?"

A nerve pulsed in his cheek and he shoved his hands into his pockets. Scuffing the floor with his feet, he looked down. "I guess we _could_ have gone somewhere more exotic. I just thought you might like something a bit more down to earth." He wandered off across the mountain, his shoulders hunched.

I sighed. I should probably go after him. I hadn't meant to upset him; it wasn't his fault that I was less than impressed with his choice of holiday destination. But the mountain was bloody cold and I didn't even have anything on my feet. I turned back to the TARDIS and padded inside, leaving him brooding out on the mountain alone.

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**A/N: The lyrics at the start of this chapter come from The Boo Radley's _Wake up Boo!_ A happy happy song that I thought the Doctor might like!**


	5. The Doctor: Worse people to sleep with

**Thanks for the reviews so far! I'm just up to writing chapter 12, so it should hopefully all be complete by the weekend but it very much depends on a) whether I get roped into going to work more and b) whether my friends decide that this week should be a very active week lol. I'll try!

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What was so wrong with Scotland? Okay, so it wasn't exactly as sunny as some places, or possibly as exotic, but it was a perfectly valid holiday place. Plenty of people went to Scotland on holiday every year. The tourist industry was responsible for two hundred thousand jobs with tourist spending averaging at £4 billion per year. But clearly Rose wasn't interested in those statistics. Rose wanted to bake herself in some foreign clime and get trollied with people her own age. Not go on a sight-seeing tour of the Highlands.

I sat on the ground, picking at grass. It had been strange having someone in my bed last night. Strange but not unpleasant. It had been nice to listen to her breathing, and the occasional snore wasn't really that awful. Of course, she had kicked me several times in her untidy sleepy way, but what's a few kicks between friends? There were worse people to share your bed with.

Her nightmare had haunted me though. It was stupid to even think it, but it wouldn't leave me alone. There was so much I wanted to ask her about, so many things I was curious about, but I didn't want to build it all up into this big thing that was a problem. As far as Rose was concerned, it was a recurring nightmare that didn't mean a thing and couldn't hurt her. If I told her that I knew that dream, it would just freak her out. It had stopped now anyway, for her and me. I'd never managed to work out what had made it all stop, but it had, and the dream was gone. Soon, it would be gone for Rose too. There was no point in dragging it all up from the past.

So she wasn't interested in Scotland. That was a shame, there was loads we could have done there. Gone back a few centuries and seen a few battles. Gone forward a few millennia and watched a few more. But it wasn't to be. There was no point sulking about it. Time to get up, go back and try again.

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**By the way, the facts about Scotland come from Wikipedia... I love that website.**


	6. Rose: Red peeptoe court shoes

I heard the door to the TARDIS shut and scrambled out of my room. My hair was still soaking wet from the shower and I hadn't got round to putting any make-up on. I'd pulled on my oldest pair of jeans and had layered up with jumpers and a coat. I went down to the control room, where the Doctor was fiddling with things. He was firing the TARDIS up to leave.

"Are we not staying?" I asked.

He looked over at me. "You didn't seem very enthusiastic." His head went back down as he studied the screen in front of him.

"No, I…" I shrugged. "I was just getting dressed. We can go and explore now if you like."

He shook his head without looking up. "No, it's fine." His voice was dangerously light and he was speaking in short sentences. I'd upset him. He pressed a few more buttons and was about to saunter off into the bowels of the TARDIS.

I put my hands in my pockets and hunched my shoulders. "Where are we going now?"  
He shrugged without turning around. "Who knows?"

He walked off, leaving me standing there. I looked at the screen, wondering if there were any clues there over where we were headed, but he'd turned it off. Or she had. Sometimes I was convinced that the TARDIS had something in for me; maybe she was jealous about sharing the Doctor with anyone. I knew how she felt.

I trailed back to my room as I felt the TARDIS begin to move. I kicked off the old pair of trainers I'd put on and they landed in a heap in one corner of the room. My hair was still damp, but I couldn't be bothered with it. I twisted it back into two plaits and surveyed the destruction in my room. I should really tidy it. But maybe I'd just try my shoes on again before.

I slipped my feet into them and admired them. They were high, probably too high, red peep-toe courts. My toenails needed painting before they'd look any good, and I'd probably need some practice walking in them. But I'd fallen in love with them the moment I'd laid eyes on them. I still didn't really have an outfit to go with them, and I didn't have an occasion to wear them to. Still, I felt they were definitely worth what I'd paid. I loved the way they made me feel, as I practiced walking up and down my room. And was it my imagination or did my calves look smaller in them? I hitched my jeans up to investigate further. Just as the TARDIS landed. I wobbled precariously in my shoes before falling over.

After picking myself up and replacing my shoes carefully in their tissue-lined box, I went in search of the Doctor, to see where we were this time.


	7. The Doctor: Nice

**Thanks for the reviews so far! I know the chapters are short but it was originally just going to be a short story and then became this! Oh, and if anyone's interested, the shoes from the last chapter are based on a pair on the faith website... mmmmmmmmmmmm

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"Magaluf?" she asked this time, looking across the quiet beach in the early morning sun. There were still a few people around, they all looked a bit worse for wear. God, why did humans do this to themselves? It wasn't even like drinking made them any more attractive; if anything, they became _less_ attractive with each unit they consumed. And it certainly wasn't worth it; I'd tried Earth beer and had spat it out in disgust. They probably didn't even appreciate the gorgeous sunrise they were witnessing. Too blind drunk on cheap alcohol to even notice.

"You didn't seem to like Scotland," I reminded her. "I though the sun might suit you better." I looked across at her.

She caught my glance. "Oh, yeah, it's great." She nodded enthusiastically. "I mean, Spain… wow… I can top up my tan. It's cool. Thanks." She looked down at her outfit. "I better go and get changed then." She looked at my clothes. "Are you going to wear…?"

I looked down. "What? What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

She smiled, shaking her head. "Nothing. Give me ten minutes." I gave her a pointed look. "Twenty tops, promise." She nipped back inside the TARDIS, leaving me to see the sunrise for myself

She returned twenty-seven minutes and forty nine seconds later, dressed in a completely different outfit.

"What do you think?" she asked, giving me a twirl.

Oh dear. I tried to think of an answer while I took the whole outfit in. She had on one of her many pairs of shoes, flip-flops I think she called them. A short denim skirt. An almost non-existent top, and she was holding her newly loosened hair back with a pair of sunglasses. What could I possibly say?

"You look nice," I said, trying to sound less like I was being strangled. "Really nice. Now, are we going to hit the beach?"


	8. Rose: Great fun

Magaluf. What was he trying to say? That I was some sort of chav? I knew he had loved it when Cassandra had said that. He was always trying to get in digs about it. And now he'd topped it all off by taking me to the chav centre of the universe!

I'd never said I hated Scotland. It had just taken me a minute to get used to the idea. But as usual, he'd over-reacted in such a typically male way and taken offence at my hesitancy. And brought us here. Quite what he expected me to do here, I had no idea. He'd never seemed much of one for beach holidays, drinking sangria and going clubbing. To be honest, I wasn't sure I was really one for this kind of holiday; I liked a good time as much as the next person but I'd never really envied anyone the chance to go one of these holidays. And I didn't even really know why he was suddenly so keen on going on holiday at all. I was perfectly content doing our usual wander-around-until-something-goes-wrong thing.

But the look on his face… he was trying so hard to please me. I really didn't want to disappoint him again by throwing it back in his face. Maybe I should just make the best of it all. And ignore the nagging voice in my head that kept saying, _Your Doctor wouldn't have done this. He'd have known where you wanted to go. And he'd have taken you there._

We spent the day lazing on the beach. Well, I did. For much of it, the Doctor was preoccupied with fiddling with the TARDIS.

"You'll have more fun on your own," he insisted. "Go on, go and sunbathe and do whatever you want. I'll catch up with you later."

Yes, and great fun it was too. Lying by myself on a crowded beach, with no one to help rub the suncream into my back. Burying my head in a book because I had no one to talk to. Great fun.

I'd noticed a group of guys messing around earlier, throwing sand at each other. Now most of them had run off down to the beach. Except one. As subtly as I knew how, I checked him out. Tanned. Tall. Dark hair. Nice wonky smile.

His shadow fell over me. I looked up from my book (still on page 234, really struggling now).

"Hi," he said, smiling.

"Hi."

"All on your own?"

I nodded. "Yeah, sort of. The… My friend's around somewhere."

"I'm Gary."

"Rose."


	9. The Doctor: Stuff to do

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews so far! I'm still working on the ending... I know what I want to happen, it's just getting there that's awkward!

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"You're going where?" I demanded, as Rose swept into the TARDIS that evening talking about someone called Gary and mentioning something about insanity. "You're going to an asylum?"**

"No!" She rolled her eyes. She must have been awful to try and control as a teenager. Thank God she was nearly over her mood swings. Poor Jackie. I wondered since when I'd started agreeing with her mother and shuddered.

"I _said_ I was going to Insanity," she repeated. "It's a nightclub, up the coast a bit. You can come if you like."

"To somewhere that sounds like a mental disorder? No thanks."

"You're aren't half getting boring, Doctor," she said quietly, before going to her bedroom to get changed.

I sat down on floor, resting my elbows on my knees and my chin in my hands. Was I getting boring? I mean, once upon a time I'd have gone somewhere really exotic when I fancied a break like the Rings of Saturn or the Lost Universe (don't ever believe the hype about that). Now I was on some island off the coast of Spain, Earth. And I wouldn't even go to some club. Maybe I was getting boring. Or maybe I was just being sensible.

There was a clatter of heels and Rose wobbled back down the corridor. She was just fixing some earrings in.

"Not wearing your new shoes?" I asked, unable to resist a sly dig.

She didn't reply, but gave me a filthy look. "I don't know what time I'll be back. Don't wait up."

The TARDIS deliberately sent an electric shock through my left leg. I half jumped. "Ah… Rose… you will be careful won't you?"

She gave me a withering look. "I'm not a child, Doctor. I'll be fine." She hesitated. "You could always come?"

The TARDIS wanted me to. I could feel her trying to force me out of the door. But Rose was right; she wasn't some kid who needed looking after. I'd just cramp her style.

"Nah, I'm fine here," I insisted. "I've got… stuff to be getting on with."

"Stuff?"

"Yeah." I looked around. "Lots of… stuff."

She nodded slowly. "Right. I'll just be off then. Like I said, don't wait up. Enjoy your… stuff." She shut the door behind her

"Will you stop doing that?" I demanded of the TARDIS. "You know, just once in a while, you should mind your own business! She's fine on her own." I looked at my nails as nonchalantly as I could. "I mean, yes she looked nice. That skirt really suits her. And those stupid shoes of hers …" I smiled fondly. "And I liked what she'd done with her hair, didn't you?" I shook myself out of my reverie. "But she can take care of herself."

I spent the evening pottering around, polishing various parts of the TARDIS. Some screws needed tightening again and some parts oiling. She really was having a rough time of it at the moment. I'd have felt sorry for her but she was being so damned narky about me not going with Rose.

"She didn't want me to," I said again, half growling. "I mean, yes she invited me, but she really wanted to meet up with this Parry or Larry or whatever his name was." Another electric shock. "Seriously! Ow!" I stood up from where I was crouched looking at something. "I'm going out for a breath of fresh air. Try and sort your mood out, old girl."

I walked out into the evening. It was still warm and it was as busy now as it had been before the sun set. It wasn't even that cold. Several people gave my woollen suit a second glance.

A breath of fresh air and then back to work. I pushed the door. It had got stuck. I leaned against it. Nothing. I felt inside my pocket for the sonic screwdriver. Gone. I'd left it on the floor inside…

"Oh, you're kidding me!" I groaned. "Come on, open up and let me in!" I hammered on the door. "Don't be so stupid!" It wasn't budging. She'd locked me out. Again.

"What am I supposed to do now? I can't just sit out here." I could still feel her pricking at my subconscious. "No, I'm not doing it. Nope. Oh for goodness sake!" And I stalked off in search of Rose.


	10. Rose: Lost

Stupid bloody shoes. Stupid bloody skirt. I was swinging the former by their straps in my right hand, while rubbing at a beer stain on the latter with my left. My feet were killing me, I had a raging headache and I wasn't entirely sure where I was.

Gary and his friends had shown up twenty minutes late. We'd gone into the club and I'd been all set to have a good time. It was a while since I'd done this kind of thing; a while since I'd hung around with people my own age. I was looking forward to just forgetting things for a bit. I loved being with the Doctor, I loved travelling with him, but sometimes, just sometimes, it all got a bit intense. I'd seen so much since I'd known him and I'd learnt so much. It was nice to do normal things just occasionally.

And yes, this was normal. I totally recognised this situation. It hadn't taken Gary long to set his sights on someone else. He'd wandered off over an hour ago, and his mates had followed suit. After only three hours in the club, I'd stumbled out alone.

I just knew what the Doctor would say if I went back now. Well, he wouldn't _say_ anything, he never did. But I'd be able to feel his criticisms in the air. So I'd have to kill some time, wandering around. Anyway, it wasn't like I was entirely sure where I even was. The roads all looked so different once the sun had gone down properly and there were so many other people around, all milling in different directions. It had been a fair old walk from the where the TARDIS was parked, I could remember that much. And vaguely the direction. But apart from that I was lost. The best idea I could come up with was heading towards the beach and following it round.

A sharp pain in my right foot made me look down. I lifted my foot up and looked at the bottom. There was a long cut running lengthways down my foot that turned red as I looked at it. Scarlet blood trickled down my foot. It started throbbing. I looked down at the ground. There was a smashed bottle on the floor. Bloody great.

I hobbled over to a wall and sat down. My foot was almost covered in blood by now. I hadn't known my foot could bleed so much. It was hurting too, and for the first time in quite a while I felt like crying. It had been a horrid night, even before Gary had abandoned me. I'd felt so exposed without the Doctor by my side, and I felt daunted by all the crowds in the club. He'd become my safety net, my support. I felt so lost without him there.

"What have you done?" He looked down at me, his hands shoved in his pockets, his hair ruffled, a big oil stain on his cheek. His voice was slightly patronizing, slightly amused but his face said it all.

"I cut myself." I shrugged nonchalantly. "It's fine."

He produced a handkerchief from his trouser pocket. "It looks deep. How did you do that?"

I accepted the cloth grudgingly. "I trod in some glass. You better not have used this to wipe your oily hands on."

"Why aren't you wearing your shoes?" he asked, frowning, then his grin overtook his face again and his eyes shone. "You can't walk in them, can you? Yet another pair of shoes you can't walk in!"

"It's not funny."

"So where's your friend then? This Barry or whatever his name is."

"Gary." I glowered at him. "And he's inside, I… I was tired, I decided to leave early." I wasn't giving him the satisfaction of knowing I'd been ditched. He'd tease me about it for weeks.

"Oh right." He nodded. "Well. Can you walk?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. It hurts."

He nodded. "Right. Well, the TARDIS has locked me out anyway."

I looked up from inspecting my foot. "You serious? What's she done that for?" She'd only done that a few times in the past, when he'd annoyed her too much. "Have you been messing her up again?"

"No! I never 'mess her up'!" He was extremely defensive about this. "I repair her! She's just being a typical female, irrational, emotional. I should have asked Mickey on this trip, at least he'd even it all up a bit."

"Nah, that would be all we'd need," I said without even thinking. I bit my tongue.

The Doctor luckily had either not heard or chose not to comment. "Right, how shall we get you back home then? You sure you can't walk?"

I nodded. Much as I hated admitting it, I was in a lot of pain at the moment.

"Okay. Only one thing for it then." Before I could protest he'd scooped me up and was carrying me. He pulled a face. "I'm definitely not getting any younger."


	11. The Doctor: Run

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews! I've got about another 2 full chapters and 2 half chapters left to write... I write in weird ways, starting one chapter and then coming back to it later! So it should all be done in the next week or so!Oh, the facts about Mercury are (as ever) from good old Wikipedia, the fan fic writer's friend.

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Rose fell asleep as soon as we got back to the TARDIS. I'd forgotten quite how strong the painkillers I had on board were. They weren't exactly intended for humans. She'd barely even managed to get changed before she crashed out. I pulled the duvet over the top of her and left her to it. She'd hopefully sleep through the worst of the pain and wake up feeling better. 

Time to leave Spain, I thought. Reluctantly, I prepared to take Rose back home for a few days. Her mother would kill me for letting anything happen to her little girl, but it wasn't like we could go anywhere else. Rose was in no fit state to be running from anything. And yes, I suppose she was partly right; life isn't always about running from things. Well, it shouldn't be. But sadly, my life _was_ all about running from things. And I just couldn't risk putting Rose in a situation where she would need to move quickly and couldn't. Far better to take her home for a while, let her foot get better and face the wrath of Jackie.

The TARDIS, at least, was pleased. I'd done what she'd wanted and she'd been right. Rose had needed my help.

"Yes, alright, you win," I muttered as I started punching buttons and pulling levers. "As usual."

I yawned. It had been quite a long day. And it was hot out here, that usually made me feel more tired. Like the time I'd accidentally visited Mercury… that had been a _big_ mistake. With temperatures up to 427ºC, that was certainly hot enough to make you more than a bit sleepy. Luckily, the TARDIS had found her own way out of that one.

So bed-time it was then. I said my goodnights to the TARDIS and headed down to my room. I was hardly even in bed before I fell asleep; it was almost unheard of for me to fall asleep that quickly. If I hadn't been unconscious, I'd have wondered what was going on. As it was, I was instantly plunged straight into a dream; the dream I'd thought I'd got rid of.

I was running as fast as I could, faster than in real life even. That's the brilliance of dreams, being able to do things like that. Only it wasn't fast enough. I could feel it, whatever _it_ was, breathing down my neck, ruffling my hair and clothes. I could barely even see where I was going, the light was so bright. Squinting I tried to move up a gear. Then I stumbled and fell and…

I woke up gasping for breath, and the TARDIS lights flickered on straight away. I jumped out of bed and looked around. Nothing. All just a dream. But it had been so real, so completely utterly realistic. I could even feel both hearts racing, like I'd just run full-pelt away from something. This was all very strange.

I left my room, and wandered down the corridor, messing my hair around with one hand as I thought. This was so unlike me. I'd never dreamt like this before, never. If I'd been affected by scary things in life, I'd never have slept again. So this wasn't a fear of monsters thing; like I'd told Reinette, monsters had nightmares about me, not the other way around. But I was definitely running from something; you don't have recurring dreams without a reason for them.

Giving up all expectations of sleeping, I made a cup of coffee and sat down in the console room, swinging in a chair and trying to think what it could all be about. And that's where she found me.


	12. Rose: Fear

I hadn't expected to find him still up. It was late; well, early to be precise. The TARDIS was doing something, probably taking us away from Magaluf. My head felt heavy and my eyelids were threatening to drop again but I was too frightened to go back to sleep. I'd tripped in the dream again and woken up with a start. I'd swung my legs out of bed, wincing as I put weight on the forgotten injured foot, and headed off in search of painkillers for my thudding head and some form of caffeine. I didn't want to slip back into that again tonight.

The kettle was still warm when I reached the kitchen and only took a moment to re-boil. I put two large spoonfuls of coffee into a mug, added four spoons of sugar and bypassed the milk. I hated black coffee, but needs must. I took a long swig and forced myself to swallow, before heading in search of painkillers.

There he was, sitting in a chair and swinging to and fro. I was behind him, but from the set of his shoulders and the way he was staring into space, I could tell he was thinking. Thinking about what, I wasn't sure. I'd found him sitting up some nights pondering the strangest things; like how they managed to get the word polo onto the mints, or if he really could believe it wasn't butter. Maybe he was now deliberating over what exactly a wonderwall was, and how exactly she was like the wind. There was only one way to find out. I coughed lightly.

"Rose!" He turned round to face me. "You're up late, what are you doing?"

I gestured to my mug of coffee and pulled a face. "Had that dream again. Only of course me with my injured foot couldn't run that fast." I shook my head, smiling ironically. "I don't really want to go back to sleep again after that."

"No, I don't suppose you do," he agreed. "Here, sit down. Join the party as they say in… well, somewhere." He pulled a chair out for me.

"And what's keeping you up?" I asked, sitting down and taking another sip of disgusting coffee.

"Oh you know." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Just couldn't sleep, the usual things…"

"Right." I nodded.

"How's your foot?" he asked, gesturing towards it.

I shrugged. "Painful. I was actually looking for some painkillers for my head though. Have we got anything?"

He pulled an apologetic face. "It's probably the stuff I gave you that caused that. What does it feel like?"

"Like I drank a bar dry last night."

He nodded. "Yeah, sounds about right. Alien painkillers: not really meant for consumption by humans. Sorry."

I sighed. "It doesn't matter. I suppose I'll just have to put up with it."

"You'll manage. You've put up with worse."

There was a long silence. There had been more of this lately. More awkward pauses, long periods of time where neither of us spoke. It was horrible. There was something wrong, something very wrong. I couldn't explain it though. All of this whisking me away to different places… this wasn't normal. I couldn't help feeling that my dream had something to do with it all…

"I'm going to drop you off at your mum's for a couple of days," he said now, downing the last of his coffee and standing up. He stretched loudly.

I frowned. "What? Why?" Every time he talked about taking me home, I wondered these days. Was this the last time I'd see him? Would he one day announce that he was taking me home for good, that it had been fun, a laugh, _fantastic_… but that it was over now? That was my worst fear. Fear about monsters, fear about demons and darleks and cybermen and werewolves and creatures that went bump in the night… that was just good old fashioned reflexes that sent my heart pounding and the blood racing about my body. It set up survival techniques: fight or flight. But losing him… waking up one morning to find him gone, out of my life, never to return. Living each day without him there, holding my hand, explaining things, experiencing everything together…. That was the fear that made my heart skip a bit and the blood retreat from all my extremities.

He shrugged now. "I just think you need to rest in your own bed for a bit. Anyway, you can hardly run with a piece of glass sticking out of your foot, can you? And you might need to see a doctor."

"You're a doctor, _the_ Doctor," I reminded him.

"Oh you know what I mean!" He rolled his eyes. "And the TARDIS needs a rest too. Poor old girl is feeling a bit under the weather, aren't you?" I tried to close my ears the sentiments he poured upon the TARDIS in the following few minutes.

"So… so where will we go next?" I ventured gingerly. If he was planning on dumping me, I'd know from his next answer.

"I don't know really." He ruffled his hair thoughtfully. "I fancy somewhere different. How about you?" He grinned suddenly. "Tell you what. You decide!"

"Pass the buck, why not?" I laughed. Then we had another one of those awkward pauses. God, I hated them. As we avoided each others eyes and tried to pretend that we were perfectly at ease with the silence, I readied myself to ask the question that was really on my mind.

"Doctor? This dream of mine… I'm a bit worried."

"Oh yes?" He looked up. Something in his face had shifted… this was not where he'd wanted the conversation to go. Which only made me want to know more.

"Well… dreams don't reoccur for no reason, do they?" I said hesitantly. "And it's so _real_."

"Well, the kinds of things we see… You've got to expect a few nightmares," he said airily.

"Do you ever get nightmares?"

He looked taken aback at the question. He blinked several times before replying. "Well, you know, I wouldn't call them _nightmares_. Just… dreams, you know. Now, you really should get some rest, Rose."

There he went again, treating me like a little girl. But he looked so haunted suddenly, so exposed. I didn't want to see him like that; it only made everything worse. So I nodded, and padded back to bed.

That night the monster caught me.


	13. The Doctor: Time to talk

**Thanks again for the lovely reviews. Just got to write two and bit more chapters now and the story's done! Yay!**

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**As we entered the flat the next day, I could see Jackie notice Rose's wrecked appearance immediately. It wasn't exactly difficult to notice; the shadows under her eyes were so dark that not even her industrial strength concealer could cover it up. 

"What's happened to you?" Jackie demanded, looking from her daughter's face to me. Well, glaring at me to be precise. "You look awful! What's he done to you?"

"Cheers Mum." Even Rose's voice had lost its usual sparkle. "I just haven't been sleeping too well, that's all."

"And are you limping?" Jackie asked now. "Where have you been taking her?"

"Mum! Please!" Rose said irritably. "I just trod on some glass, it's nothing serious. Just a cut that needs resting. The Doctor brought me home to do that."

Jackie still eyed me dangerously, but let Rose pass into the sitting room. "I'll put the kettle on."

"I'm just going to check on the TARDIS," I announced. Rose's head moved round so fast I thought she'd get whiplash. I could see the question in her eyes. _Are you coming back?_ "I'll be back in about an hour. If I'm not, send out the search party. Actually, don't." I thought better of it. "Just… I'll be back."

I closed the door to the flat and let out the sigh I'd been holding back all day. It had been an uneasy morning, filled with those pauses and hesitations that I hated. I especially hated them when they involved Rose. I just couldn't work out what was causing them, what had driven this wedge between us. _Or you don't want to…_

I'd heard her screaming last night in her sleep. She'd talked too. About a monster, about running. I'd been drawn to her room by the sounds of pain and fear. It wasn't like I could sleep anyway. I'd hoped those pain killers would have knocked her out properly, made it impossible for that dream to get to her. But it had managed somehow, and she sounded more scared than ever. She was tossing and turning, her face contorted into agonising expressions.

"Leave me alone!" she kept saying. "Please! Go away!" Then suddenly she screamed. "Doctor!" And the dream ended. From the look on her face the next morning, I could guess it hadn't ended well. She hadn't said anything, but I could tell.

This time away from the TARDIS would be good for her. She needed a break. All this dream was, was a manifestation of her exhaustion and her inner demons. _And if you believe that…_

Walking through the Powell Estate, my hands in my pockets, I tried to turn my mind away from Rose and her dream but I couldn't. This was dangerous; I'd felt it creeping up on me over the last few months. The last year or so in fact. These thoughts, these feelings. Oh, they'd always been there, I couldn't have denied that. But now they'd surfaced and it was getting harder and harder for me to avoid them. Every thought was concerning Rose, her safety, her happiness, her life… Now, as I wandered through the estate, I couldn't stop my mind returning to her, lying on her sofa in that flat.

The TARDIS knew how I felt. She was always on the same wavelength at me. That was why she'd forced me out into Magaluf looking for her; she knew I wanted to deep down but never would. She knew I couldn't, that for me to admit what I felt for Rose would be breaking thousands of laws, most of them unwritten. I just couldn't. It was better like this. And yet she couldn't stop pushing me, willing me to tell Rose everything. That was how the dream had started.

I'd had that dream first months ago. Just after I'd regenerated. It had been interesting at first. But it had baffled me. What was making me dream like that? I never had recurring dreams usually, that just wasn't me. And then it had stopped almost as abruptly and I'd gone back to my dreamless sleep. But now it was back. And I knew what was causing it this time. And now it had started on Rose. Not _it_. _She_. My own TARDIS, torturing the girl I… She meant well, I knew that. She just wanted to see me happy, just wanted to look after me. Just like Rose. I should have known better by now than to take another female on board, they'd only ever gang up on me. The TARDIS knew how I felt about Rose and knew I'd never tell her. And so she was trying to force us to come together. Only it couldn't be, there was no way it could happen. And she was destroying Rose, bit by bit.

It was time she and I had a talk.

Entering the TARDIS, I guessed she could sense my mood. I stopped in the middle of the control room and looked into the vortex.

"You're doing this all wrong, old girl," I said as gently as I could. She only meant well, she only wanted to help. It was a shame the help she was giving was so wrong, so impossible. I sighed. "I know you're only trying to help but… this isn't the way."

I walked round the console, as she thought it over. "I know you're sorry, I know you didn't want to hurt anyone. But you are. You're hurting Rose. You know you are, you've seen how she is. This isn't right." I ran a hand through my hair as she responded. "You know how I feel about her! You know I just want to look after her and protect her and keep her safe! That's why this is wrong, it can never happen. Me and Rose… it just isn't an option. And you're making her think it is. Stop. This can't happen."

The vortex suddenly erupted into life. I frowned. "What are you doing now? Where are going? Stop! I promised Rose I'd be back soon, if she…" But it was too late. Nothing I said or did would stop her. We were off.


	14. Rose: Promises

"Rose, what are you doing?" Mum demanded as I jumped to my feet and half-ran, half-limped to the door. "You're supposed to be resting your foot!"

I headed out onto the balcony and looked over. And there was the TARDIS, disappearing before my eyes. I wanted to scream and shout but no sound would come out.

"Rose!" Mum caught up with me. "What are you doing out here?"

"He's… he's gone, Mum." I pointed to where the TARDIS had been. "He… he said he'd be back soon."

Mum was obviously taken aback, but then she pulled herself together. "Well… it's about time too. Now come back in, you haven't even got any shoes on!"

I followed Mum back inside, trying to piece the last few minutes together. I'd heard the noise, that whirring and groaning and murmuring… My body had jumped into action before my mind had, resulting in my landing rather heavily on my cut foot, and than staggering to the door. _He'd promised…_

Well, no, he hadn't, but I thought we were beyond that now, beyond lying and cheating our way out of things. I thought we knew each other better than that. _Your Doctor wouldn't have done this…_

"You look tired, sweetheart," Mum decided suddenly. "You should get some rest."

"Mum, the Doctor's just left without me!" I reminded her rather crossly. "How can I sleep at a time like this?"

She produced a bottle of pills and pulled the face I never argued with. "Take one, it'll help," she insisted.

I rolled my eyes. "Mum! I'm not taking your sleeping pills! You're not even supposed to hand them out to people like you do, you could get in serious trouble." I took the packet off of her. "They're out of date too," I pointed out, tossing them into the bin.

Mum glared at me. "There's no reason to have a go at me because your Doctor has gone off on a jaunt without you!"

_He's not my Doctor!_ I swallowed the words back. He'd be back; he'd probably just leant on the wrong button yet again. I stood up.

"I'm going to bed for a bit," I said. "If… When the Doctor comes back, try not to start a fight."

I lay down on my bed, not wanting to fall asleep. But I was so tired… maybe just a quick nap. Maybe away from the TARDIS, away from everything so alien I could escape the dream. And the Doctor would be back. He had to be.


	15. The Doctor: Hand in hand

**Thanks for all the reviews. This story is getting a bit random to be honest... not my greatest work. But am nearly at the end now, just got one and a half chapters left to write.

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The TARDIS finally came to a shuddering halt. **

"So much for being tired," I muttered as I picked myself up off the floor. "You're getting too clever by half. So. Where are we?" No reply. "This isn't the time to start being enigmatic!" Still nothing. I sighed. "Okay, I'll go and look for myself."

I opened the door and stepped out into… a dark damp basement. Oh how had it come to this? I wandered around the immediate area.

"Nice. Lovely day trip. Erm… excuse me for asking this, forgive me if I sound rude or – god forbid – unintelligent but… why?"

There were boxes all around filled with clothes and things. It was strange; this was just some basement in… well, somewhere, definitely somewhere… but it felt familiar. It felt like I'd been here before, in a dream or something. The smell, the acoustics as my foosteps fell on the concrete floor… this wasn't me imagining it. I had been here before. But when?

I headed down the corridor in front of me. There was some noise at the end of it, and some light too. This was all getting far too familiar for comfort. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end and shivers were running down my spine.

There was a voice in the room on the other side of those doors. It was muffled and indistinct, but getting louder. I could taste panic in the air coming under the door, fear and sweat and… I knew it, I knew that smell and taste. This was stupid though… why would the TARDIS bring me somewhere I'd been before? Especially if…

It all flashed through my mind as the voice finally broke through the door. The girl, her blonde hair tumbling down her back. The mannequins, alive, alien, being controlled. The doors, bursting through. Our hands, coming together, clasping onto each other though we had no idea who the other was. Her eyes meeting mine, a burst of understanding and… yes, recognition. And the word, the word that had started all of this.

"Run!"

And I did. Why on earth had she brought me here? She knew it was a stupid idea, that putting me in this position with another me just on the other side of a door was not a good plan. If he… if I saw me… it could change everything, not just this moment and what followed, but what had gone before and… well, everything. So I ran back down the corridor, not daring to turn around and look back. As I rounded a corner, I heard the doors burst open and footsteps. My footsteps. Her footsteps.

I launched myself back into the TARDIS and began trying to get us out of here.

"What were you thinking?" I demanded, as she kicked into action. "That was not a good idea, really not a good idea! Come on, let's get out of here!"

She obliged for once and I sank down onto the floor in relief. That had been too close, far too close. I didn't even really understand why she'd done it. She'd taken me back to the moment I'd met Rose, the first time she'd put her hand into mine. She'd done it without asking, without even thinking. She hadn't pulled away or demanded answers. She'd just trusted me to save her.

"What are you trying to say?" I asked. "That she's too trusting? That she believes in me? I know all this. It doesn't change the fact that… well, you're being unfair to her. Me and her… it can't happen."

And yet it already had. That's what she was saying. Me and Rose had happened the moment our hands met that first time. As we'd run down that corridor, she'd given herself to me. Her life had been in my hands, to do with what I wanted. There was no use fighting it now; it was already there, in everything we said and did, and always had been.

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I made my way back to the flat quietly. The TARDIS had landed herself softly and as silently as she could. The mood was subdued in the control room and I needed to get out. I reached the flat door and moved my hand to ring the doorbell. Before I'd even pressed it the door was thrown open.

"About time too!" Jackie grabbed my arm and dragged me inside with surprising force for a woman of her size. She was the only woman able to put me off guard, and I didn't even to resist. "Where the hell have you been?" She didn't wait for an answer. "There's something wrong with Rose."

My hearts beat out of time. "What?" I demanded. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's dreaming or something," Jackie was dragging me into Rose's room. "Only she won't wake up and she keeps crying out."

Rose was tangled up in her duvet as usual, but her face was contorted. Tears rolled down her face and she tossed and turned, her lips moving slightly, murmuring inaudible sounds.

"I've tried waking her up, she won't," Jackie said again, her voice slightly shaky. "What is it, Doctor?" She looked up at me, and then back at Rose.

"Oh Rose," I said softly.

"What? What is it?"

"It's just a dream." I shrugged it off. "She's fine, she's just… dreaming." I moved to sit on the edge of her bed. "Honestly, it's fine. Can you put the kettle on?"

"What?" Jackie screeched. "You want me to do what?"

"She'll be awake in a minute. I'm sure she'd like a cup of tea when she wakes up." I looked up from Rose to Jackie. "Go on, she's fine."

I hadn't realised that the TARDIS could reach so far. Rose seemed to be suffering even more now. My poor Rose. This had to stop. This wasn't fair on her. I hoped the TARDIS had taken the hint and would stop now. If not… I didn't know what to do.

Rose suddenly spoke and it was all I needed to confirm all my worst fears. Her voice was ragged, out of breath, but perfectly clear. "Doctor!" she said, suddenly grabbing at my hand. As our hands touched, the dream seemed to end. Her eyes shot open and the first thing she saw was my face.


	16. Rose: Just a dream

I was running as always and my heart was racing. The monster was within reach, it was about to get me. The light ahead of me seemed to be dimming, leaving me to the dark. I was crying, begging not to be left there. Then I saw him. His hand was outstretched, palm up, waiting for me to place mine into his. My eyes moved up and met his. Those deep brown eyes, so dark. I reached out and grabbed his hand, calling his name. And as our hands touched the light became blinding, the darkness receded. The dream ended.

I jerked awake and found myself looking into those same brown eyes, etched with concern and worry. I wanted nothing more than to bury myself in his arms. But then everything came back to me. And I pulled my hand out of his.

"Where the hell did you go?" I demanded, my voice croaky at first but growing in strength as I continued talking. "You left! You said you'd be back!"

"And I am…"

"But you went somewhere! You just… you just went!" I'd got out of bed and was standing up by now. So was he. _Damn._ He was a good few inches taller than me; it was much harder to argue from this angle.

"Rose, I'm sorry, the TARDIS was playing up and…"

"That old excuse!" I rolled my eyes. "So where have you been?" I looked at the clock. "You've been gone hours!"

"Rose!" Mum came back in through the door, carrying two cups of tea. "You're awake!"

"Of course I'm awake!"

"Are you feeling better?" Mum handed me a cup of tea and felt my forehead, much to my disgust. "That was some dream you've been having. No doubt related to something you've seen lately?" She made the question mark obvious, looking from me to him.

My eyes met his. "No, nothing like that Mum," I said. "Just… just a dream." As she moved to give the other tea to him, I spoke again. "He's not staying."

"He's not?"

"I'm not?"

"No, you've… you've got stuff to be doing, haven't you?" I said pointedly.

There was hesitation before he nodded. "Oh yes, stuff to do, things to… do." He nodded very decisively. "Yes, must be off, Jackie, sorry about the tea. I'll… I'll be back later." He looked at me. I wasn't sure what to read into his expression. Was he saying sorry? I wasn't really sure what I was making him apologise for. He'd come back, after all. But I couldn't help thinking he was hiding something from me, not telling me something. I'd been feeling like that for ages and it scared me. Because what could be so bad that he couldn't tell me?

This dream thing had unnerved him, I knew that. It was like every time I mentioned it something shut down inside of him and a wall jumped up between us. He'd told me not to worry, that it was just a dream, that everyone had bad dreams from time to time. But there was something else, something he knew that he didn't want to tell me. And that's what was scaring me now.

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Later that afternoon something came through the letterbox. Mum was on the phone as usual, so I could at least manage to get up and to the door without her going crazy at me. She only cared about me, didn't want me to get hurt. It's just her care sometimes became a bit stifling and made me want to run as fast as I could.

It was a parcel. I frowned as I picked it up. Brown paper, tied up with string. Very old-fashioned. Very the Doctor. I pulled the string off and the paper fell away. A note fluttered to the ground. I picked it up and read it, squinting at his awful handwriting:

_I'm sorry. Wear this tonight. It'll match your shoes._

I took the dress out of the parcel and shook it out. It was red, the exact same red as my new shoes. Fitted to the waist and then slightly flared. Knee length. It was perfect.


	17. The Doctor: Fantastic

**Again thank you for your reviews!**

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**I'd been all over looking for that dress. I mean, _all_ over. Humans are always saying that: "I went _everywhere_ looking for that top/shirt/shoes." But what they mean is, they trawled up and down the local high street a few times before settling for it. I actually _had_ been all over; I'd finally found it in Milan in 2012. Apparently red will be all the fashion then. 

I'd been the one to rescue Rose in her dream. Her eyes when she'd opened them had said that much. It was me, not _him_, not _her_ Doctor. Me. There had been a moment when I thought she was going to fall into my arms, right before a barrier had come up again and she'd pulled away. I didn't know why; maybe it had been a shock to her that it had been me she'd been running to all this time. I knew why she'd shouted at me though. I was going to have to do a lot more than buy her a dress to make up for scaring her like that and going away. I'd come back, but she hadn't known I would do that.

So now I was waiting for her outside her flat. I'd said be ready by seven; it was seven forty-five, but what had I expected really? Rose was incapable of ever getting ready quickly. Still, it wasn't like the time mattered much; I was sure where we were going would still be there in half an hour.

The door to her flat opened.

"What do you think?" She stepped out. Her voice was challenging me to criticise her.

What could I say but what I felt? "You look lovely. I mean it, Rose. You look… lovely."

She blushed slightly and a smile crept across her face. "Thanks. You, you could have made an effort!" she said, slapping my arm lightly. "You're still wearing that tatty old thing!"

I looked down at my suit and smiled. "Yeah, well. When you're as good looking as me… you can pull anything off!" I offered her my arm. "So, are we ready then?"

She slipped her arm through mine and nodded. "Yeah. I guess. Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"Oh, God, I hate it when you're all mysterious like this!" She rolled her eyes expressively. "It usually means we're off somewhere where we'll get killed or something!"

"Nope. No killing tonight." I was adamant on that point. If the TARDIS dared to take us back to a time when we'd have to wrestle something off our heads, we would be having serious words. Quite apart from anything, I'd already gone to a hell of a lot of trouble to set our destination up. And tonight wasn't a night for running and escaping; it was night for laughing and lots and lots of dancing.

She was circling round the control panel, playing with the folds of her dress. I was more than a bit pleased with my choice of dress; red suited her. Every time my eyes landed on her, I found myself grinning involuntarily.

"What?" She shot me a half-aggressive look.

"Nothing." I smiled and looked down.

"What were you looking at?" she demanded, coming over. "What's wrong? Have I got toothpaste round my mouth or something?" She dapped at her mouth anxiously.

"No! Nothing like that. You look…" I grinned again. "Wonderful. Lovely. Perfect…" I tried to think up some other adjective.

"Fantastic?" she suggested in a small voice.

"Yes." I nodded. "That too."

Her face had clouded over in sadness for a second, before she regained her smile. "Good. Flattery will get you everywhere."

"Really?" I raised my eyebrows teasingly.

"Really." She leaned on the panel next to me. "So where exactly are we going?"

"Ah, that's a surprise."

"Oh come on! Just a little clue!"

"Nope. Not even a riddle." I shook my head firmly. How would I even explain it to her anyway? She'd think I was crazy. I probably was. I just wanted to make her happy so much. I just wanted her to look at me the way she'd looked at him, the way she'd looked at me when she'd woken up. This had to work.


	18. Rose: The same

I stepped out of the TARDIS uneasily on my painful foot. It took me a moment to work out where we were.

"Henrik's basement?" I turned to face the Doctor who was just coming out of the TARDIS.

"Yes!" He grinned widely, that stupid toothy grin.

"You've brought me back to the place I used to work?"

"Yes!"

I frowned. What was he thinking? I'd asked him once before what sort of date he was… now I knew. A bloody cheap one.

"And we're here because…?" I looked around suddenly. "_We're _not here, are we? I mean, the other us, they're not…"

"No, it's a different day," he replied coolly. "Before it all got a bit weird."

I snorted. "A bit?" I sighed and looked around. "So you bring me to the place you blew up before you blew it up. In a cocktail dress. And new shoes. Call me stupid if you like but… why?" Maybe he'd finally gone crazy. Maybe I was trapped in a basement with a crazy Time Lord. That would be… different.

Then he held his hand out to me, and it all came flooding back. He'd done that before. Well, not him but… yes, _him_. Down here, all that time ago, he'd taken my hand and told me to run. And we'd never stopped. Not even in our dreams. We'd run from so much: slitheens and Darleks and werewolves. And him. I'd been running from him for so long now, scared to get too attached, scared to let myself love him the way I always had before. _Except in your dreams_…

"Come on," he said softly, still holding his hand out. "Come with me."

I placed my hand in his and followed him. He walked down the corridor, towards that spot where we'd first met. He pushed through the door. And we were hit with the smell of…

"Chips?" I dropped his hand in surprise.

"Hot chips." He helped himself to a couple. "Hot plates, you humans are really onto something with them. Want one?" He offered the bag to me.

I took one. "Thanks… I think. But…"

"Hold on. Just one thing left." He held a finger up and hurried away through the piles of boxes.

"What are you doing?" I asked, unable to keep myself from smiling.

"Hold on!" There was a click and then the sound of music. An unmistakable bass line. Synthesisers.

"_Sometimes I feel I've got to… runaway, I've got to…getaway…"_

He came back round the boxes dancing the way only he could. He offered me his hand with a flourish.

"Care to dance?"

"To this?" I wrinkled my nose.

"Classical music from humanity's greatest composers," he replied, taking my hand and pulling me into him. "Isn't it?" He looked down at me, eyebrows raised.

With his arms around me, and feeling every breath he took, I couldn't do anything but say the truth. "That's what I heard," I said softly.

"Me too." He paused. "I'm the same man, you know, Rose. I'm…"

"I know." And I did. He was the Doctor. He always would be.

"I'm sorry." He meant it.

"You don't have to be."

For a few moments we danced to the beat.

"Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"These dreams. I think I know what's causing them."

I felt him stiffen ever so slightly. "Really?" He sounded suddenly afraid. Of what? Me? That I'd figured it out? I didn't know. I just knew I didn't want him scared.

"Yeah. I think… I think I'm eating too much cheese."

A smile teased at the corners of his mouth as I met his eyes. "Yes. That's exactly what I thought too."


	19. Epilogue: Together apart

**The last chapter! Thanks for all your reviews and for reading it at all! Bit of a change of mood in this chapter from the last one, but it needed to link on to my other story "Sad songs say so much". Lyrics from Coldplay's "The Scientist", one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard.**

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**The Doctor and Rose danced in the basement for many hours. The CD got stuck on the last song and played repeatedly, but they didn't notice. 

_"Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry, you don't know how lovely you are."_

Wrapped in their own thoughts and each others arms, they had probably never been closer together. Or further apart.

_"I had to find you, tell you I need you, tell you I set you apart."_

The Doctor held her tightly in his arms, hardly daring to believe that she was here, his Rose, so close. Not his Rose, though. She could never be his Rose. It was the impossible dream. He loved her too much to risk it, and she could never know how he felt. This was as close as they could ever come together.

_"Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions, oh let's go back to the start."_

Rose buried her head in his shoulder, noticing the mothball smell again. He was her Doctor. For now. For now he would hold her tight, tell her everything was alright. For now they could dance.

_"Running in circles, coming up tails, heads on a silence apart."_

As the song played out, they clung to each other, their rocks in the storm outside. This was just a temporary lapse into pleasure. They both knew that come tomorrow, life would resume and dancing would be the last thing on their mind. And one of them knew that one day, his beautiful Rose would dance with someone else, and he would dance alone again. Because it could never be.

"_Nobody said it was easy, oh it's such a shame for us to part. Nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be this hard. Oh take me back to the start."_


End file.
